Plot Summary
The plot begins with Pym as a stowaway on his friend's, Augustus, father's whaling ship. As the story unfolds, Pym starts with experiencing a mutiny on board the ship. After this, the few members of the crew that didn't commit any mutiny; one in particular, Dirk Peters, helps Pym and Augustus hide on board as well as brings them food when he has the chance too. Now all of those who didn't committee, including Pym and Augustus, manage to kill off all the mutineers, but one, Parker. Soon after, and before they manage to kill off Parker, they sail into a horrific storm which more or less destroys the ship. After the storm is over and everything calmed down, their is only four of them left that had servived, Pym, Augustus, Peters, and Parker, which are left adrift on the open sea and without any food or water for them, and to top it off, Augustus was seriously injured from the chaos of the storm’s destruction.
For a while, all of them manage to go without any food, but after that while they couldn't take the hunger anymore; so they make the chose to committee an act of cannibalism. They all decide to draw "lots" to decide their fate, but in the process of this, the three that didn't committee mutiny decide to end Parker's life and eat him up front. However, shortly after the three of them finished with Parker, Augustus dies from his injuries from the storm. Finally after days of be alone, almost dying from starvation once again, the ship Jane Guy, a trading ship, sails close enough to sport the wreckage and recesses the two remaining survivors, Pym and Peters. But after the two of them where rescued, the weather turned bad but again. Luckily the Jane Guy was able to sail far enough befor the storm to be near some small islands which they could seek shelter on before the storm hit.
They do decide and land upon the island of Tsalal to wait out the storm, but the island is inhabited by some white hating natives. The natives of the island torture and torment the sailors of the Jane Guy throughout the time of the passing of the storms. They cause mud slides, avalanches, and they haunt them throughout the time to drive them back to the ship, in which they succeed. But after the sailors have been pushed back on the ship by the ravaging natives, they are still bothered by them until they accidentally go too far. The natives accidentally tamper, unknowingly, with the arms stored onboard and blow the ship and crew up along with some of they own. But, as luck has helped them in the past, it helped once again for Pym and Peters where off the ship when this happened. So while everyone else blew up, they where out of the ship far enough away, trying to run from the native's destruction, that the blast didn't hurt them. So they managed to escape the capture or death from the natives once again.
Two very lucky guys so far. The way they manage to escape is by taking one of the canoes that the natives had left unguarded along with a native passenger and sail away. Now after sailing for awhile, like in the past, they actually catch a brake for once and sail into warm waters which lead them into a chasm. In the chasm however there is a white ashy substance falling all around and on top of them. Also at the end of the chasm stands a huge statue of a man holding is hand out as they approach; such as that, at the end of the first "Lord of the Rings" movie. But, all of a sudden, the book ends at this point. Poe places a little note right after that point saying that Mr. Pym has abruptly passed away from mysterious circumstances, which ends the story right then and there.
There are many reasons why this book would have been and is considered to be a, and to be one of the first science fiction books.
This book, for its time period uses what it can for the technology that they had for the time. It shows tells of the ships, Pym's and Peter’s inventive ways of survival, the native way of promoting fear by using what technology they had, etcetera. The book starts of tell about the boats, then the way they different people throughout the book used what they had for survival, and then the natives using their primitive ways to cause fear and destruction. All of the technologies of the time being used throughout the book, makes the reading feels somewhat of an old science fiction novel.
Setting:
In the story called "The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym" the setting began on a ship. The year at the time was somewhere in the 1800's. The mood was thrilling and gloomy like most of Edgar Allan Poe's other works. The thing that made it thrilling was that Arthur and his friend were stowaways on the ship. Another thing to add on to this mood was that later on in the story the crew began a mutiny against the captain.
Later on after the mutiny is over a terrible storm comes and destroys the ship which makes it even more thrilling. Arthur and three others lived, but now they are in the middle of no where with no food or water, and this makes it even more thrilling. In this story you are always on the edge of your seat because you have no idea what is going to happen next. Also, one of the men was injured in the storm. Now the setting goes from the ship to the sea.
The plot begins with Pym as a stowaway on his friend's, Augustus, father's whaling ship. As the story unfolds, Pym starts with experiencing a mutiny on board the ship. After this, the few members of the crew that didn't commit any mutiny; one in particular, Dirk Peters, helps Pym and Augustus hide on board as well as brings them food when he has the chance too. Now all of those who didn't committee, including Pym and Augustus, manage to kill off all the mutineers, but one, Parker. Soon after, and before they manage to kill off Parker, they sail into a horrific storm which more or less destroys the ship. After the storm is over and everything calmed down, their is only four of them left that had servived, Pym, Augustus, Peters, and Parker, which are left adrift on the open sea and without any food or water for them, and to top it off, Augustus was seriously injured from the chaos of the storm’s destruction.
For a while, all of them manage to go without any food, but after that while they couldn't take the hunger anymore; so they make the chose to committee an act of cannibalism. They all decide to draw "lots" to decide their fate, but in the process of this, the three that didn't committee mutiny decide to end Parker's life and eat him up front. However, shortly after the three of them finished with Parker, Augustus dies from his injuries from the storm. Finally after days of be alone, almost dying from starvation once again, the ship Jane Guy, a trading ship, sails close enough to sport the wreckage and recesses the two remaining survivors, Pym and Peters. But after the two of them where rescued, the weather turned bad but again. Luckily the Jane Guy was able to sail far enough befor the storm to be near some small islands which they could seek shelter on before the storm hit.
They do decide and land upon the island of Tsalal to wait out the storm, but the island is inhabited by some white hating natives. The natives of the island torture and torment the sailors of the Jane Guy throughout the time of the passing of the storms. They cause mud slides, avalanches, and they haunt them throughout the time to drive them back to the ship, in which they succeed. But after the sailors have been pushed back on the ship by the ravaging natives, they are still bothered by them until they accidentally go too far. The natives accidentally tamper, unknowingly, with the arms stored onboard and blow the ship and crew up along with some of they own. But, as luck has helped them in the past, it helped once again for Pym and Peters where off the ship when this happened. So while everyone else blew up, they where out of the ship far enough away, trying to run from the native's destruction, that the blast didn't hurt them. So they managed to escape the capture or death from the natives once again.
Two very lucky guys so far. The way they manage to escape is by taking one of the canoes that the natives had left unguarded along with a native passenger and sail away. Now after sailing for awhile, like in the past, they actually catch a brake for once and sail into warm waters which lead them into a chasm. In the chasm however there is a white ashy substance falling all around and on top of them. Also at the end of the chasm stands a huge statue of a man holding is hand out as they approach; such as that, at the end of the first "Lord of the Rings" movie. But, all of a sudden, the book ends at this point. Poe places a little note right after that point saying that Mr. Pym has abruptly passed away from mysterious circumstances, which ends the story right then and there.
There are many reasons why this book would have been and is considered to be a, and to be one of the first science fiction books.
This book, for its time period uses what it can for the technology that they had for the time. It shows tells of the ships, Pym's and Peter’s inventive ways of survival, the native way of promoting fear by using what technology they had, etcetera. The book starts of tell about the boats, then the way they different people throughout the book used what they had for survival, and then the natives using their primitive ways to cause fear and destruction. All of the technologies of the time being used throughout the book, makes the reading feels somewhat of an old science fiction novel.
Setting:
In the story called "The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym" the setting began on a ship. The year at the time was somewhere in the 1800's. The mood was thrilling and gloomy like most of Edgar Allan Poe's other works. The thing that made it thrilling was that Arthur and his friend were stowaways on the ship. Another thing to add on to this mood was that later on in the story the crew began a mutiny against the captain.
Later on after the mutiny is over a terrible storm comes and destroys the ship which makes it even more thrilling. Arthur and three others lived, but now they are in the middle of no where with no food or water, and this makes it even more thrilling. In this story you are always on the edge of your seat because you have no idea what is going to happen next. Also, one of the men was injured in the storm. Now the setting goes from the ship to the sea.